1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a panel for a vehicle, particularly for the interior of a vehicle, the vehicle preferably being an aircraft.
2. Description of the Background Art
For the covering of vehicles, particularly the inside of vehicles such as airplanes, covering or panel elements (mostly of plastics) are used which are fastened to holding structures of the vehicle. The covering elements are fastened, for example, to rails above the seats in an airplane by particular fastening elements arranged at the covering elements. Above the seats, there are several different covering elements and covering units including, for example, breathing masks, reading lights, air nozzles, information displays and key buttons, or other operating elements, such as PSU units (passenger service unit).
Per seat row, the afore-mentioned covering elements or covering units are located above the seats. Between these covering units, depending on the distance between the seat rows, further covering elements, also called in-fill panels, are located. These covering elements are comparably light-weight and, for reasons of simplicity, they partly do not have fastening systems of their own for being directly fastened to the holding structure of the vehicle to which the other covering elements or units are fastened. In the prior art, for example, it is known to fasten these in-fill panels, by particular clamps, to a covering element that, in turn, is mounted on the holding structure of the vehicle via fastening elements. A certain disadvantage of the known covering elements fastened by clamps or the like is that these covering elements may loosen accidentally because of vibrations, for example, or because forces are applied upon them by the passenger during loading of luggage or sitting, which result in the detachment of the covering element.